Election research in the age of regulated data access under the EU Digital Services Act

Summary

This paper examines how the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) is reshaping the empirical study of online election communication by mandating new forms of platform data access for researchers. After years in which the withdrawal or commercialisation of platform APIs eroded the empirical basis of election research, the DSA has compelled major platforms to (re-)establish access to “public” data through dedicated APIs and portals. The authors survey this emerging landscape, comparing how platforms have implemented these obligations, and argue that while the DSA partially reopens avenues for election research, the heterogeneity, restrictive eligibility, and substantive gaps of current regimes leave significant aspects of campaigns, political advertising, and electoral discourse difficult to study.

Key Contributions

• A comparative overview of the post-DSA data access landscape (APIs, portals, eligibility rules) as it pertains to election research.
• Identification of practical and methodological challenges introduced by regulated data access, including issues of equity and reproducibility across researcher communities.
• Practical guidance for election researchers navigating the new infrastructure, plus a diagnosis of where further regulatory or platform action is needed.

Methods

A review and comparative analysis of the data access modalities (APIs, transparency portals, vetted-researcher mechanisms) that major online platforms have established in response to DSA requirements, with a focus on their utility and limitations for election communication research.

Findings

• Platforms diverge substantially in how they implement DSA-mandated public data access, including in API design, data fields exposed, and access procedures.
• Researcher eligibility is unevenly distributed, raising concerns about equity, reproducibility, and the concentration of empirical work in particular institutional settings.
• Current access regimes leave notable gaps for studying campaign communication, political advertising, and broader election-related discourse.
• The DSA has improved conditions relative to the post-API-withdrawal low point, but does not restore the breadth of access researchers previously enjoyed.

Connections

This paper sits at the centre of an active debate about regulated platform data access for researchers, connecting closely to broader assessments of DSA Article 40 and vetted-researcher regimes in Rieder2025-ju and Rieder2026-pp, and to critical evaluations of platform-provided research APIs in Murtfeldt2025-wu and Votta2025-xz. It also speaks to the political-advertising transparency strand represented by Bouchaud2026-lr and to wider concerns about the fragility of platform research infrastructures voiced in Freelon2024-sc and Bak-Coleman2025-pm.